U.S. Stocks Moving Back To The Upside In Morning Trading

After coming under pressure late in the previous session, stocks have moved back to the upside in morning trading on Wednesday. The Dow and the S&P 500 have climbed firmly into positive territory, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq is bucking the uptrend.

Currently, the Dow is up 334.41 points or 1 percent at 32,757.56 and the S&P 500 is up 23.25 points or 0.6 percent at 3,933.77. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq has climbed off its worst levels but remains down 21.99 points or 0.2 percent at 13,205.71.

The strength on Wall Street comes amid a rebound by stocks likely to benefit from the reopening of the economy such as airlines and cruise operators.

Concerns about extended lockdowns in Europe weighed on the stocks on Tuesday, contributing to the weakness shown by the broader markets.

News that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has reversed plans for a strict lockdown over the Easter holiday may have contributed to subsequent rebound.

Energy stocks are regaining ground after falling sharply in recent sessions, with the sector rebounding along with the price of crude oil. Crude for May delivery is jumping $2.10 to $59.86 a barrel after plummeting $3.80 to $57.76 a barrel on Tuesday.

Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the NYSE Arca Oil Index is up by 3.9 percent and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index is up by 3.8 percent.

As mentioned above, considerable strength has also emerged among airline stocks, resulting in a 3.8 percent spike by NYSE Arca Airline Index.

Steel, banking and housing stocks are also seeing significant strength on the day, while some weakness is visible among software stocks.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods unexpectedly decreased in the month of February.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders slumped by 1.1 percent in February after spiking by an upwardly revised 3.5 percent in January.

The pullback came as a surprise to economists, who had expected durable goods orders to climb by 0.8 percent compared to the 3.4 percent jump that had been reported for the previous month.

Excluding a steep drop in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders still fell by 0.9 percent in February after surging up by 1.6 percent in January. Economists had expected a 0.6 percent increase.

The data follows the recent release of disappointing reports on retail sales, industrial production and home sales, although the weakness is largely seen as the result of severe winter storms.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index plunged by 2 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index tumbled by 1.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have turned mixed on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index has inched up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.1 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 0.6 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have pulled back near the unchanged line after moving modestly higher in early trading. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by less than a basis point at 1.644 percent.